Dragon Instinct

Chapter Seven

Laxus was startled awake by the feeling of someone thrashing around in the bed beside him. He groaned opening his eyes slowly, his sleep addled brain taking a few moments to remind him exactly why there was someone in his bed. Eliana was rolling around in the bed, whimpering, obviously in the middle of a nightmare. Laxus reached over, activated the light lacrima beside his bed and sat up.

"Eliana," he said softly fighting back a yawn. It was too early for this much noise.

"Eliana...," he called out when she didn't respond, grabbing the little girls shoulders to stop her thrashing. "Wake up kid."

Eliana slowly opened her eyes, and he paused at the sight of tears in them.

"Mister Laxus?"

"Yeah kid, it's me, you can just call me Laxus ya know?" He said shaking his head. "You okay?"

"Yeah...just a bad dream..." she said softly wiping her eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?"

She shook her head quickly.

"Was it about your mom?"

"Yeah..."

"Wanna talk about her instead? That always helped me when I thought about my mom."

She seemed to think about it before nodding slowly.

"Okay." She said softly.

"Okay, come on," he said pulling her up to sit beside him. "Now, talk."

She leaned into his side pulling her locket off slowly handing it to him. He looked at her confused before taking it from her.

"That's a picture of me and mom."

"What about your dad?"

"Didn't have one. He was gone before I was born. Mom said some dark magic took him away."

"I see," Laxus said quietly opening the locket pausing at the picture.

She was a young woman with long brown hair and big blue eyes that she passed down to her daughter. She was holding Eliana in her lap smiling brightly at the camera.

"This is your mom?" He asked slowly.

"Mmhmm, mama was water mage. She could do amazing things with water. She didn't belong to a guild though. She quit after I was born," she said leaning against his side. "We traveled a lot. She liked to show me knew places."

"You two were happy then?"

"Uh huh." She said smiling slowly.

"You should remember those times then," Laxus said putting her locket back around her neck. "I lost my mom when I was your age."

"You did?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. "She was really sick."

"Did you have a dad?"

"Not a very good one," he said patting her on the head. "But I had my gramps. He's plenty enough."

She smiled up at him slowly laying her head against his side.

"You shouldn't be so clingy to someone you just met kid. Not everyone is so nice," he said quite.

"You're nice."

"How do you know?"

"You make me think of my mom," she said softly.

Laxus looked down at her trying to process that statement.

"How?"

"You smell like the rain. Mom and I used to sit outside and listen to the rain and storms. You smell like the wind did on those days," she said as her eyes slowly closed.

Laxus sat watching her quietly as she felt back to sleep. He reached down brushing the hair off her forehead slowly leaning back against the bed. He mind was struggling to get around what Eliana just said. There was no way she should be able to smell things like that unless she was Dragonslayer.

He slipped out of bed as soon as he was sure she was asleep, grabbing a change of clothes slipping out the room, leaving the lacrima on for her. He went into the bathroom changing clothes before walking down to Freed's room.

He opened the door stepping in quietly walking to the bed. He leaned down to wake him up pausing a bit seeing his hair spread out on the pillow with moonlight shining on him. It was something he hadn't paid much attention to over the years, seeing Freed when he was relaxed or sleeping. He almost hated waking him up, but it was necessary.

"Freed," he started softly touching the man's arm. "Come on, I need you to get up."

"L..Laxus?" Freed asked softly, voice rough with sleep.

"Hey, sorry to wake you, I'll let you get back to sleep in a minute."

"What time is it?"

"Close to six."

"You never wake up before ten, is something wrong," he asked sitting up.

"Not really, Eliana had a nightmare and woke me up. That's why I came to get you. I need to get to the guild, the old man will be up and I need to talk to him. I wanted you to know in case Eliana came looking for me."

"Oh..okay," he said slowly. "Why do you need to talk to him so early? Is it about Amaryllis?"

"Sort of. I'll explain later," Laxus replied, reaching up to brush Freed's hair out of his eyes with a small smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay Laxus."

Laxus stood up turning for the door before pausing turning back to Freed slowly.

"Laxus?"

Laxus just shook his head with a smile leaning down to kiss him.

"See you in a little bit," he said with a smirk walking out.

Freed laid back in his bed with a blush covering his cheeks.

Laxus hurried down the streets of Magnolia towards the rundown building that now house Fairy Tail. He needed to get to his grandfather as soon as possible. The only person who could confirm his suspicions was his grandfather. Not that he needed them confirmed, there really wasn't another option.

He walked into the guild hurrying past the bar towards Makarov's office.

"Old man," he started opening the door. He knew his grandfather and after the destruction of the two villages he would have stayed up all night trying find who was responsible.

"Laxus? What are you doing here so early?" Makarov asked looking up at him from the desk.

"We need to talk." Laxus said shutting the door behind him.

"What about? "

"Last night you said Dragonslayer's feel a strong connection with their children, like with a mate, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Will they feel that bond even if they aren't aware they have have a child?" Laxus asked quietly sitting in a chair.

Makarov eyed him slowly, placing his hands on the desk.

"What's this about?"

"I think I'm Eliana's father."

"Impossible, she's too young."

"She's six, we were on Tenrou for seven years."

Makarov sighed looking at him.

"Did you know her mother?"

"That's why I began to suspect I was her father," Laxus said softly. "She showed me a photograph of her mother. We traveled together while I was exiled from the guild. We uh, we weren't a couple or anything, but yeah, there's definitely a chance I'm her father. The last time I saw her was the day before I arrived on Tenrou."

"So for you it's been less than a month?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I would assume the Dragon would sense the bond between you two...if she were your child, but I have to ask," Makarov started. "How can you be so stupid!?"

Laxus flinched at his anger.

"Gramps, now isn't the time. Is there anyway to know for sure that I'm right about this? I mean, I'm pretty damn sure but I'd like to be able to tell her the truth."

"Yeah, yeah, give me your hand," Makarov said.

Laxus raised his eyebrows slowly. He wasn't so sure he should trust him.

"Do you want to know or not?"

"Fine," he said putting his hand on the desk.

Makarov put his hand over his, a red magic circle appearing in Laxus' hand.

"What's that?"

"A sort of sensory link, it will join the two of you and see if you're connected. Don't worry, she won't feel it."

"Where did you learn this?"

"Porlyusica taught me, I don't exactly have a guild of angels," he said dryly. "Never thought I'd need it for you though."

"You wouldn't, if it weren't for that damn dragon," Laxus replied quietly.

"Or if you'd kept your damn pants on." Makarov muttered.

Laxus looked away quietly. Makarov wasn't wrong, and he really had no excuse for his behavior before he'd left the guild, except that he was trying to keep up an image. Most Dragonslayer's don't feel attraction until they met their mates, or in his case become aware of their mates. The magic wasn't as strong on him as it was first generation Dragonslayer's like Natsu and Gajeel, because his powers came from a lacrima and not a dragon. He wasn't going to tell him he'd had sex with Valerie because he thought it was impossible his mate was Freed. He hadn't wanted to admit what he was feeling at the time. Freed had always been his closest ally, and when he'd realized what his feelings were becoming, he'd been terrified.

"Congrats Laxus," he heard Makarov say, looking at him as the magic circle filled with light. "It's a girl."

Laxus sighed looking down at his lap. He was a father. A father who had missed out on the first six years of his daughter's life. Valerie had told her he'd died. How was he supposed to tell her he was alive, convince he didn't he stay away on purpose?

"Any idea how you're going to tell Freed?"

"Not a damn clue. He's going to be crushed. Like the rest of us, it doesn't feel like seven years passed by," he said quietly standing. "What's the odds that two villages are destroyed and the only one to survive is my daughter, and she seems to have some Dragonslayer powers?"

"She does?"

"She smells things she shouldn't, is it possible it's passed on?"

"I've heard of it," Makarov said.

Laxus nodded heading for the door before turning back.

"I think we both know who's behind this, and I guarantee you she survived because he wanted her to."

"...Ivan.."

Laxus walked out the office heading for the door. He walked home at a much slower pace than when he walked to the guild. He wasn't surprised Eliana was his daughter, he began to suspect she was his as soon as he saw the picture of her mother. The way she described his scent pretty much confirmed his suspicions. It explained the way he reacted to seeing her, he'd never gotten along well with children before, not that he hated them. He just didn't care to spend his time around them.

He sighed walking into the house, hanging his coat on the back of the door.

"That was a quick visit."

Laxus turned seeing Freed curled up in the recliner with a book in his hand. The rune mage hadn't bothered to dress for the day, still in a pair of pajama pants and a robe. It was rare to see him so relaxed. Laxus paused taking a minute to enjoy the sight in front of him.

"I thought you went back to bed," he finally said walking to him.

"Couldn't fall back to sleep."

"Sorry about that," Laxus said sitting on the couch motioning for Freed to join him.

"It's fine. Is everything okay? It's not like you to run to the guild like that," Freed asked sitting beside him on the couch.

Laxus looked at him slowly. He really didn't want to have to tell Freed. He didn't want to give the rune mage another reason to be upset.

"We uh...there's something we should talk about."

Freed looked at him slowly putting his hand on his.

"Laxus?"

Laxus took a deep breath closing his eyes. The best way to break the news was just to tell him, and as quickly as possible without dragging it out.

"Eliana, she uh, she's my daughter. I know it sounds crazy but gramps just confirmed it," he said quietly. "Her mom was a mage I met while I was exiled. Eliana has a picture of her in her locket and showed it to me."

He looked at Freed slowly as he finished talking. The rune mage was looking at him dumbfounded.

"Your daughter?"

"Yes."

"When did you start thinking this?"

"About an hour ago, when she woke up and started talking about her mom."

"So...you didn't have a clue?"

"No..not at all." Laxus said giving Freed's hands a squeeze. "I never even considered it a possibility."

Laxus watched as Freed turned away from him, staring at the wall thoughtfully. He felt himself tense, ready for whatever it was that Freed would throw at him.

"Well...she does look like you." Freed finally said quietly.

"She does?"

"Are you blind?! She looks just like you did when you were younger."

"I...I see."

Freed watched Laxus quietly as the man fell silent. He wanted to be angry with him. He wanted to be able to yell and scream, but he knew he really didn't have the right. Laxus was allowed to see whoever he wanted to before they became whatever they were now. This knowledge didn't stop it from hurting him though.

Laxus had been seeing someone before he came to their aid. He had gotten her pregnant. Even before Acnologia had shown up, he'd made no mention of her while they welcomed him back. Had he planned on going back to her? If they hadn't lost the last seven years would Laxus still be with her?

"Freed?"

"Were you in love with her?"

"Who? Valerie?" Freed blinked in confusion at the name. "That was her name, and no, we...we were just two lonely people. We'd both lost our guilds and gotten separated from those we cared about. We weren't even dating."

"Now you sound like Loke," Freed tried to joke.

"Freed.."

Freed looked back at him slowly. He was trying his best not to show Laxus how much it was hurting him to know Eliana was his child. It had put his mind into overdrive. Was it possible Laxus didn't even find him attractive? Was he only acting like he wanted to date him because he felt sorry for him? Freed knew it was impossible but that was what kept running through his mind. Laxus had admitted he'd never been attracted to men before.

"Laxus I..."

"How pissed are you at me?"

"I'm not angry...I'm hurt...but I've no right to be. It's not your fault I've never been able to move on," Freed said softly.

Laxus pulled him into his arms holding him close. Freed buried his head in his shoulder closing his eyes, soaking up the warmth Laxus provided.

"Are you against dating a man with a child?" Laxus asked him quietly.

Freed looked up slowly, eyes wide. He couldn't have heard him right. Admitting he had feelings for Freed had been hard enough. Laxus couldn't have just asked him that.

"D...Dating?"

"I mean, it could get pretty hectic, balancing our time.."

"I..I don't have a problem with that...and we already know she likes me.." Freed replied quietly lacing his fingers with Laxus'.

Laxus smiled slowly reaching up to touch Freed's cheek.

"So, when are you going to break the news to her that you're her father?"

"I figured we could take her through town, show her around, maybe eat a lunch together, tell her then," Laxus said slowly.

"You just made that up now didn't you?"

"Maybe?"

"And you call me hopeless..." Freed said laughing. "The tour isn't a bad idea. Throw in a picnic and it's an even better idea. We need to take her shopping for clothes and toys anyway."

"Well, it's a good thing Bickslow and Ever don't mind her being here," Laxus said leaning back against the couch, letting Freed curl into his side.

"Well Ever spends most of her nights at Elfman's anyway, even though she says she's at the girls dorm."

"Trust me, I know," Laxus said wrinkling his nose. "She comes back smelling like him."

"You can really smell that kind of stuff..."

"Yeah, any adult Dragonslayer knows what it means when two people's scents mix like that. Just like if we want we can read people's moods because powerful emotions have certain scents," Laxus told him, absently beginning to play with a lock of his hair.

Freed smiled to himself closing his eyes relaxing.

"I can't believe that out of everyone, your daughter survived. Do you think Mavis protected her?"

Freed felt Laxus tense up and bit his lip, wondering what he said wrong.

"I think she was left alive on purpose. I think my father is responsible. Somehow he found out about her, and did this. Maybe to call me out, maybe because it's possible for my powers to pass on to her. I don't know, but I will find him. I will make him pay."

Freed shivered at the anger in his voice, but he understood. If he knew the name of the wizard who killed Freya, he knew he'd hunt them down. He'd probably get kicked out of Fairy Tail for what he'd do to them. After all Fairy Tail wizards don't kill their enemies.

"Do you think your powers transferred to her," Freed asked distracting himself from his dark thoughts.

"Yeah. She has my sense of smell."

"Poor kid."

"Yeah think about. She's stuck living with Bickslow."

Freed covered his hand to hide his laughter. He hadn't expected Laxus to say something like that, but he was glad he had. He needed the laugh. Laxus just grinned pulling him in for a kiss.